Luck with clouds continue to be a royal pain when it comes to meteor showers/storms - and with planets transiting the Sun - which happens so infrequently as to be a "once-in-a-lifetime" event. Take Venus' transit earlier this year. The day started out relatively sunny then the clouds moved in. There were several breaks however (see photo - front yard with family & friends 6/5/12) which allowed for everyone to get a short glimpse of part of the transit. Venus looked to be a small dark disc that slowly moved across the Sun. The transit occurs when Venus & Earth line up just right. Last Venus transit was in June 2004 - didn't see it and you can probably guess why by now. The time before that was in 1874 (didn't see that one either :) Next time to see Venus crosing the Sun will be in December 2117.
So why do we care about a "little black spot on the Sun" today or any day? Astronomers were able to figure out the size of our Solar System (mainly) by using simple geometry in the 18th century while observing the transit from different areas on Earth.
The Kepler spacecraft is currently looking for extrasolar worlds using the same transit methods used to study Venus. So far Kepler has discovered over 800 planets orbiting other stars. Earth-like worlds discovered in an earth-like orbit around other stars? Not just yet but stay tuned.
Solar filters were hand-built to fit the telesopes for safe viewing. Glasses were surprising cheap to buy online (click here for website - highly recommended for the next total solar eclipse in North America 2017!).
So why do we care about a "little black spot on the Sun" today or any day? Astronomers were able to figure out the size of our Solar System (mainly) by using simple geometry in the 18th century while observing the transit from different areas on Earth.
The Kepler spacecraft is currently looking for extrasolar worlds using the same transit methods used to study Venus. So far Kepler has discovered over 800 planets orbiting other stars. Earth-like worlds discovered in an earth-like orbit around other stars? Not just yet but stay tuned.
Solar filters were hand-built to fit the telesopes for safe viewing. Glasses were surprising cheap to buy online (click here for website - highly recommended for the next total solar eclipse in North America 2017!).
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